Guard for barb-wire fences.



- No. 7|5,73a. Patented Dec. is, I902.

.1. A. ANDERSON. GUARD FOR BARB ,WIRE FENCES.

(Application fllad Dec. 24, 1901.) I

(No Model.)

I Z MZ ATTORNEYS HE Nonms PETERS 00.. inmoumo WASNINGTON. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. ANDERSON, OF WAUNETA, NEBRASKA.

GUARD FOR BARB-WIRE FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,738, dated December16, 1902.

Application filed December 24, 1901. Serial No. 87,081. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern/.

Be it known that I, JOHN A. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wauneta, in the county of Chase and State of Nebraska, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Guards for Barb WVireFences; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in guards for barb-wire fences; andit consists in a guard-wire and a series of brackets projecting out fromthe fence for holding said wire at a distance from the upper wire ofsaid fence, so as to prevent live stock from injuring themselves on thebarbs of the fence.

It also consists in certain other novel constructions, combinations, andarrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is abe produced at one operationand Without waste.

The fence illustrated is of ordinary construction, being made up ofposts 1 and having a series of barbed wires 2 strung upon the same. Inusing fences of this kind for fields or places where cattle or otheranimals are kept it is found that animals often hurt themselves quiteseriously by coming in contact with the barbs of the fence. I thereforecontemplate arranging a guarding means to keep the cattle away from thebarbs, consisting, preferably, of a wire 3, supported at a suitabledistance from the posts of the fence and the barbed wires thereof. Themeans for supporting this wire upon the fence consti-= ets consists,preferably, of a rod or wire bent so as to form a loop near its centerto inclose the guard-wire 3, the ends of the brackets being turnedinwardly and made sharp, so that they maybe driven into the sides of thefenceposts. While the brackets may be formed in various ways, Ipreferably form the same of iron orsteel roding and'bend the lengths ofrod to form the guard-supporting loop 4:. The iron or steel rod ispreferably out between the lengths, which are used for forming thebracket upon a diagonal line, as indicated in Fig. 3, forming sharp ends7 and 8 upon each bracket-piece. In this way the sharp points of thebrackets can be provided at the same time that the sections of the wirefor the separate brackets are severed. There is also no waste materialin forming the'brackets in this way. After a section of a rod has beencut and looped at the center its ends are turned in approximatelyhorizontal planes. The upper point 7 thus formed on the bracket ispreferably driven into one side of the post. while the lower point 8 isdriven into the other side of. the post. course be both turned the sameway and the bracket be secured to the post by driving both points intothe post on the same side thereof. It is preferable, however, to turnthe points in opposite directions with respect to each other, so thatthe ends of the brackets may be secured on opposite sides of the posts,for in this way the bracket is well braced and capable of firmly holdingthe guard-wire in position. The brackets will also be thus easilyattached to the post and without the necessity of using brace-wires orother additional means.

In mounting the guard-wire in position the guard-wire is easily slippedbetween the arms 5 and 6 of the brackets at the point where they crosseach other for forming the loop 4, the roding composing the arms 5 and 6of each brace being easily sprung apart for this purpose. After abracket has thus been slipped upon the wire 3 its sharp points 7 and 8are driven into the post, thus thoroughly locking the guard-Wire withinthe loop 4:. The arm 5 is preferably secured to the opposite side of thepost from the side upon which it crosses the arm 6, and of course thearm 6 necessarily The points could of bears the same relation to the arm5. This arrangement of the parts tend to more securely twist the loopportion 4 upon the wire 3.

From the above description it will be evident that my guard-wiremechanism is extremely simple in structure, inexpensive in production,and that the parts are readily and easily put into position.

I am aware of the fact that hitherto it has been proposed to provideabarbed-wire fence with a guard-wire erected contiguous thereto andsupported by the fence-posts for the purpose of preventing cattle beinginjured by the barbs of the fence; but these structures were subject tocertain disadvantages. As far as I am aware, they were erected byboringa hole in the fence and inserting therein a single stem or rod ofwire carrying at the outer end a loop to support the guard-wire. Such astructure was easily injured or torn from the fence entirely by thecattle pulling the stem of the bracket from the hole. This I haveobviated by bending the ends of the diverging arms of the bracket anddriving such beveled ends into opposite ends of the post in differentparallel planes, the loop portion still being maintained in the samevertical plane as the post, thus permitting the guard-wire to be carriedthereby parallel to the barb-wire strands.

Having fully described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A guard for barbed-wire fences comprising the fence-posts, aguard-wire, and means for rigidly supporting said guard-wire at adistance from the posts, said supporting means consisting of a bracketconstructed of a single piece of wire bent inwardly to form a tang toenterone side of the fence-post, extended thence forming an arm in ahorizontal plane and in the vertical plane of the side of the post,thence bent back and under the horizontal arm forming a closed loop toreceive the guard-wire, extended inwardly and downwardly to the oppositeside of the fence-post forming a brace-arin inclined to both thehorizontal and vertical planes of the first arm, and bent inwardlyforming a tang to enter the last-mentioned side of the post.

2. In a guard for barbed-wire fences, the combination with a post, of awire-bracket provided with an arm secured at its inner end to one sideof the post and extending horizontally in the vertical plane of saidside, a brace-arm extending inward from the outer end of the first armat an inclination to both the vertical and horizontal planes of thefirst' mentioned arm and secured to the opposite side of the post, thetwo arms being bent and crossed for forming a loop at the outer end ofthe bracket, substantially as described.

3. In a guard forbarb-wire fences, thecombination with a fence-post, ofa bracket for supporting, a guard-wire formed of a single piece of wirehaving two arms with tangs at their free ends parallel with each otherand adapted to enter the opposite sides of said post, the arms beingcrossed at their outer ends forming a closed loop to receive theguard-wire, one arm extending, when secured to the post, in a horizontalplane and in the Vertical plane of its side of the post, and the secondor brace arm being inclined to both said horizontal and vertical planes,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN A. ANDERSON.

Vitnesses:

H. PERSON, O. A. KING.

